


Better Off as Lovers

by young_thrills_and_kills



Category: Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gerard just wants mikey to be happy, Insomnia, M/M, Oneshot, Protective Gerard Way, Sad and Sweet, Songfic, Sort of a Songfic, Summer of Like, late-night conversations, real serious until the very last sentence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 15:47:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20744696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/young_thrills_and_kills/pseuds/young_thrills_and_kills
Summary: Pete sits up so quickly that he nearly slams his head into the bunk above him— Patrick’s bunk, he remembers distractedly.“Gerard?” he asks, disbelief coloring his voice.~~~~~~~~Pete's an insomniac. Gerard wants to talk about his brother.





	Better Off as Lovers

Pete is lying awake in the Fall Out Boy bus when the door creaks open. It’s after one in the morning.

‘Trick is camped out on the My Chem bus, having a sleepover with Ray, and Joe and Andy have disappeared, probably out drinking with the techs. Pete assumes that it’s one of them, coming back to sleep, until a soft, melodic voice flutters nervously from the doorway: a voice that doesn’t belong to anyone in Fall Out Boy. 

“Pete?” it says quietly. “Are you in here?”

Pete sits up so quickly that he nearly slams his head into the bunk above him— Patrick’s bunk, he remembers distractedly. 

“_Gerard_?” he asks, disbelief coloring his voice. Gerard Way _ hates _ him, hates his guts for whatever he has going on with Mikey: just standard big brother protectiveness, but it still freaks Pete out. He can think of only two logical reasons for Gerard-fucking-Way to show up on his bus at almost two: he wants to murder Pete, or he’s looking for Mikey.

Pete decides that, if Gerard wanted to kill him in his sleep, he has now lost the opportunity to do so, so he confronts the second, more plausible option.

“Mikey isn’t here.”

“I know. He’s on our bus. Sleeping. Kid is out like a light.”

Pete stares at him, puzzled. If Gerard isn’t looking for Mikey, then Pete can’t think of a reason for him to be here beyond intimidation and possible murder, but his demeanor isn’t threatening, and Pete doesn’t see any sort of weapon in his hands. 

“Then, uh, why exactly are you here? No offense, but we’re not exactly buddies. You like Patrick more than me. And he’s already on your bus. With Mikey and the rest of you. Sleeping.”

Gerard walks a couple of footsteps further into the bus and slumps against the nearest wall, his face hidden in the nighttime shadows. Pete watches him warily. He still hasn’t ruled out the possibility that Gerard is about to shank him. 

“That’s my reason. Mikey is asleep. God knows he has the most trouble getting to sleep of anyone I’ve ever seen, and that’s including myself. Especially when he gets stressed, like on tour, it gets worse. He goes to sleep at two in the morning and wakes up at five. He can’t get to sleep, and he can’t stay asleep.”

Gerard takes a deep breath, digging in his pocket to pull out a pack of cigarettes. “Only, this year, it hasn’t been like that. Ever since the start of Warped it’s been… better. He’s been sleeping from ten to eight. He goes to sleep right when he gets to bed. His panic attacks have gone down— Do you mind if I?” He motions to the cigarette he’s propped between his lips. Pete nods absently, and Gerard lights up, the glow of the lighter flame illuminating his face for just a moment. “My point is that Mikey is doing better, about a thousand times better, than he was a few months ago.”

Pete blinks. “Look, Gerard, that’s great and all, but I’m not really sure why you’re telling me all of this. Especially at one in the fucking morning.”

Gerard grins, and something about it reminds Pete of a skull. He shivers. Gerard does creep him out a little bit, he can admit it now when it’s past one AM and he’s having this very surreal conversation with his fling’s older brother.

“You weren’t asleep,” Gerard points out. 

“I barely ever sleep.”

“So you’re helping Mikey, but he isn’t helping you?’

The question catches Pete off guard. “What?”

“I know why Mikey is sleeping. I know why he’s happier. I know why he’s feeling better. It’s you, as much as I hate to admit it.”

Pete winces. “Look, as much as I want to believe in that ‘love-fixes-mental-illness’ crap, you and I both know that—”

Gerard cuts him off. “That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that Mikey is a fucking knot of anxiety and he thinks that everyone secretly hates him and that he’s a fucking waste of space and when someone like you, someone he barely knows, tells him that’s bullshit and that he’s beautiful and wanted, it helps him. It doesn’t fix him, but it helps him.”

Pete is at a loss for words. He gapes at Gerard like a fish out of water.

Gerard keeps talking. “But it isn’t helping you. Why not?”

Pete puts his head in his hands. The silence stretches on for a long moment.

“I know it can’t last.”

Gerard’s face twists. “Are you saying Mikey doesn’t?”

“I’m saying that Mikey is ignoring it. I can’t. That’s why he’s asleep and I’m not.”

There is a moment of silence. Then, Pete realizes something.

“Why are you awake?”

The ghost of a smile slides onto Gerard’s lips. “You’re not the only one with problems, Wentz.”

“Frank?” Pete doubts he needs to say anything more.

“Frank… is Frank. He’s my best friend.”

“Haven’t you seen the way he looks at you?”

Gerard stiffens. “I’m not here to talk about Frank.”

Pete holds out his hands in surrender, knowing he’s overstepped. “Alright, man, whatever. It’s not my business.”

Gerard stands, and makes to step out of the bus door. Pete lays back down and rolls over, thinking that the conversation is over.

Before he hears Gerard’s footsteps thump out of the bus, though, he hears him say something, something so soft that he almost thinks he’s misheard it.

“Thanks, Pete.”  


**Author's Note:**

> gottem


End file.
